The Countdown to Christmas
by MiraculousMarauder
Summary: It's nearly Christmas and production is starting to slow. Marinette must train the new helper, Adrien, but she has better things to do with her time. And then, Alya comes to her claiming elves are disappearing. What can be done to save them and what will happen to Christmas?
1. Chapter 1

The countdown to Christmas had begun. Well, really it had begun months ago. After Christmas last year everyone took a couple of weeks off to celebrate and relax before preparations began again. But now it was December again and the race to get all the toys completed in time was well and truly on.

And they were behind.

"Come on, Papa, you know I can help. There's less than a month to go, this is important!"

"So is this," Tom said, pushing open the heavy, ornate, wooden door into his plush office. The large room was filled with with half-complete inventions and toys in various stages of completion.

Marinette followed him in and shut the door behind. Out of nowhere, Tom pulled a ball of dough, threw it down on an empty surface and started kneading it. Whenever things were particularly stressful, baking was always a good way to relieve it and the elves always appreciated the treats. Sighing, she joined him and the two worked silently side by side.

After a short while, Tom spoke. "Marinette, I know you want to help but this is something I need from you. This is very important."

"Showing around a new recruit? Seriously Papa?" She finished shaping the dough and they put the tray in to prove. "Can't one of the other elves do it?"

Tom closed the drawer with a sharp snap.

"Marinette, that's enough. This is your duty and I will not have you shirk it. You are a Santa and you will act like one. Don't go passing off jobs you don't like."

Marinette sighed again, contrite this time. "Sorry, Papa."

Nodding his head, the matter decided, he beamed widely.

"Now, it's important this new recruit settles in quickly. It seems there's more and more work to be done every year. I'm glad I can trust you with this."

"Okay, Papa, I get it. I'll show them the ropes. When are they getting here?" Marinette asked, glancing around as though the person in question was hidden there.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders Tom guided her towards the door again.

"Adrien will be arriving later tonight. You'll meet him tomorrow and start his training immediately. Now, your mother needs you in the armoury and I've got some more baking to do before I do my rounds. Have a good day and I'll see you for dinner, Sweetie." And with a kiss on the cheek Marinette was out the door and on her way to the other side of the estate.

She exchanged several greetings as she went.

From across the crowded gift wrapping room, Marinette heard a familiar shout.

"Marinette! Mari!"

Her best friend dodged and dipped across the room, practically dancing around the other elves. She made it through without crashing into anyone or causing a disaster a bright smile on her face.

"Hey, Alya," the girls hugged and Alya's expression turned sombre.

"Girl, we need to talk. You got a minute?"

"Ah, not right now. I need to go to the armoury. Rain check?"

Alya folded her arms. "Alright, but this is important. I'll definitely catch you later. Today, okay?"

"Okay, okay," Marinette agreed, already backing quickly towards the door smiling, her hands held out placatingly. "The patisserie? Three o'clock?"

Satisfied, Alya waved Marinette on her way. She glanced at her watch. It was just past eleven. Hopefully, whatever her mother needed from her wouldn't take too long and she'd be able to get back to the sewing room. This was the last chance she'd get before the new guy got there and she'd become completely useless.

"Marinette! There you are."

"Hi, Maman. Papa said you wanted me for something?"

Marinette bounced on her toes, her hands clasped behind her back. She was eager to leave already, the calming hum of the sewing machine calling to her.

"Yes, yes, come in. It's about time we get started."

* * *

"Can you believe it, Alya? She wants to start training me in martial arts. Now! As if there isn't enough to do this close to the big day. And Papa has got me babysitting some new guy. It's like they're doing everything they can to stop me helping the other elves with manufacture. I don't get it!"

Marinette through her hands in the air and slumped back in her chair feeling defeated. Alya took a sip of her coffee then pulled out a hefty notebook and pen. As one of the lead reporters at the North Pole, Alya always carried it with her so Marinette paid it little mind.

"I feel you girl. It seems like we need all hands on deck at the moment. I'm picking up some extra shifts in wrapping and Nino has had to put some of his old shows on loop so he can help out. And you know he hates doing that."

Marinette nodded. Nino's radio broadcast went a long way to help with motivation and she knew how much pride he took in it.

"That's what I mean. So why wont they let me help?"

"I don't know, girl," Alya said. "I don't know what to tell you. But listen. I asked you to meet with me because I've found something that might be really bad, and I think it might be linked to why we can't seem to keep to schedule and are so far behind for Christmas."

Marinette sat forwards in her chair. Alya adjusted her glasses and turned her notebook so Marinette could see.

"Production has been steadily reducing for the past week. It's not much but despite all of us pulling extra shifts, fewer toys are being made."

"That's... weird," Marinette acknowledged, running her finger across the numbers on the page. Then she shrugged. "But I guess people are getting tired. Everyone's working really hard, it would make sense that they're getting slower."

Alya nodded. "I thought that too, but then I noticed that there seemed to be some people missing from the mess hall at dinner time so I checked out the CCTV and saw this."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped the screen in Marinette's direction. The image was grainy but she saw what looked like an elf on the screen. Whoever it was stopped dead and seemed to be talking to someone, although there was no one else there. Then, there was static on the screen. Once the picture came back, the elf was gone.

"That was Juleka. I've checked and no one has seen her in five days. And she's not the only one."

Alya was getting excited, like she always did when she was on to a scoop, but Marinette could tell she was worried too.

"Have you spoken to my dad about this?"

Alya shook her head and put her phone and notebook back in her bag. "I couldn't even get a meeting with him. You know how busy he is right now. But I was thinking that maybe _you_..."

"Nuh uh," Marinette said. "I'm hoping you're wrong about this, but even if you're right, what can _I_ do? Maman and Papa have my schedule so tight with training the new guy and training with Maman, I don't even have time to help on the floor. It's not like Papa would listen to me about this anyway."

"But-"

"I'm sorry Alya. If I can, I'll look into it some. Maybe Juleka is just stressed and is sick in her room? It's nearly the big day, I'll do what I can if I get some time. For now, we really need you to help out on the floor. Are you wrapping this evening?"

Alya sighed, rubbing between her eyes. "Yeah... I'm not dropping this though. I'm going to find out what's happening and I'll prove it to you."

Marinette smiled, placing her hand on top of Alya's.

"I know you will. And I believe you, something strange is going on. I'll leave it to you. But for now, I've got to get ready for the new guy tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I'm attempting to write a chapter every day until Christmas so they won't be the longest. They are also unbetad and barely edited and I'm already behind! I am striving to do better. I hope you're enjoying this story so far and thank you to those who have already followed and especially to those who have reviewed. I'm sure you know it means the world!

* * *

Despite setting several alarms at five minute intervals, each on at an increasing decibel, it took Sabine Cheng coming in and shaking her awake to finally rouse Marinette from sleep. Blearily she looked over to the clock and when her eyes finally focussed she gasped, sitting suddenly upright.

"Oh no! I overlsept!"

Sabine shook her head with a smile as she turned to walk out of the room.

"Breakfast is on the table. Get dressed quickly, it's nearly time to meet Adrien. Hurry now," she said, and then was out the door.

Marinette threw herself out of bed and ran to her wardrobe. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ She had deliberately set an early alarm so that she could spend a little time sewing before breakfast, since she wouldn't have time in the day any more. There was a cute dolls outfit that she had designed and she was itching to bring her creation to life.

Throwing on her clothes she ran out of the room. Breakfast was a hurried affair, just Marinette and her mother.

"You're father is already in his office with Adrien giving him a basic rundown. Once you've finished head straight there, no dilly dallying, okay?"

The teen popped the last bite of croissant in her mouth and kissed her mother on the cheek. Three minutes later she was out the door, pulling her arms through her jacket as she ran, narrowly avoiding tripping over or running in to several elves along the way. She left a wake of affectionate grumbling behind her, sorrys thrown over her shoulder like scattered snow flurries as she dashed across the estate.

With the briefest of knocks Marinette was through the door panting slightly, her cheeks flushed. Her father laughed in the booming way he had, deep and resonating but joyful. It was one of the things that made him such a wonderful Santa.

"Adrien, m'boy, this is my daughter, Marinette."

She turned her eyes on the person standing dwarfed beside her father. She had had no preconceived notions of what Adrien would be like beyond the nuisance his presence was to her own plans. With his golden hair and brilliant green eyes he was the stereotypical golden boy. How did someone get their skin to glow like that in the dead of winter at the north pole, for goodness sake? And even though she could concede that he was objectively quite beautiful – there really was no other word to use – she wouldn't be won over by a pretty face. What made Adrien so special that she had to drop everything to babysit him?

The boy in question scratched the back of his neck, his eyes cast down and a steady tide of red washing over his face.

"Uh-um... hi, M-Marinette. I'm Adrien. Thanks for taking care of me."

She eyed his outstretched hand warily but with a pointed look from Tom took it, smiling.

"Hi, Adrien. It's not a problem, really. Part of my job is to help new people settle in. I hope you found your room to your liking."

It was as though her words broke through a dam. He looked up from the floor, pinning her eyes within the piercing gaze of his own and dazzled her with the brilliance of his smile.

"It's amazing! Thank you. I've heard so many great things about this place and I've wanted to come here for as long as I can remember. My father never wanted me to though. But Maman always talked about this place. She was an elf here for years and she said it was some of the best years of her life and all the stories she used to tell really made me want... ah, sorry. I didn't mean to give you my life story I'm just... I'm really excited to be here and to meet you, Marinette."

"You wanted to meet... me?" Marinette asked.

Adrien nodded his head enthusiastically. "I've heard so much about you and I just..." he spread his hands and shrugged.

The pink of her cheeks was no longer from the run across the compound. Tom clapped his hand on Adrien's back and the younger man stumbled. It went completely unnoticed.

"Excellent, excellent. Well now that the introductions are out of the way, it's time you showed Adrien around properly and started his training. No time to waste. Away with you both and I'll catch up with you later today!"

The door closed heavily behind them.

"Argh, alright," Marinette said, rubbing her hand across her face. "Where should we begin? I think maybe..." she hummed, looking at the map of the place outside the office. It was a large and maze-like complex and there were maps dotted around to help visitors and the occasional confused elf. She clapped her hands together decisively. "Gift wrapping. It's the simplest process but still really important. This way," she announced, waving her hand and striding off without checking to see if Adrien was following. "We have highly trained elves who specialise in taping, papering and ribbon tying. So, why do you think gift wrapping might be such an important aspect of the whole process?" She spoke as she walked, her short strides quick and purposeful.

"I-I... um... Well, it's because of the aesthetic. On Christmas morning when the children go to their Christmas tree the first thing they'll see is the wrapping paper and if it doesn't look good, some of the magic might be lost."

Marinette stopped briefly and Adrien nearly ran into her. Her face showed surprise and a very small amount of respect. "That's exactly right," she agreed, picking up the pace again. "The magic is the most important thing and we have to do everything we can to ensure the magic stays alive in the hearts of children for as long as possible. We take pride in every part of the process and everyone works really hard to make that happen."

Marinette pushed open the door to the cavernous room, hundreds of elves surrounded by masses of brightly coloured paper and long streams of ribbons filling the space in organised chaos. She lead Adrien over to a table with a stack of unwrapped boxes.

"We'll start you off with the basic box shape." Deftly, Marinette pulled a sheet of wrapping paper across the worktop, placed a box on top of it and and with just three movements, had the whole present neatly wrapped. "There," she smiled widely, inspecting her handiwork. "I went a bit slower so that you could properly see what I was doing. Take a moment to observe a couple of the other elves and then I want you to try yourself, okay?"

Adrien nodded curtly, his eyes already wondering around the room taking in the flurry of activity.

"Do you think you could show me ju-" Adrien started but Marinette was already walking away. Alya stood by the doorway waving excitedly, her phone clasped tightly in her hand.

"Sorry Adrien, I'll be back in just a minute. Have a look around, okay?"

"Oh, yeah... okay."


	3. Chapter 3

"Marinette, you have _got_ to see this. I've got proof that elves are disappearing. I thought about what you said yesterday and you were right. I can't just jump in on speculation. I'm a reporter and I needed to investigate properly, get all the facts before I make assumptions, right?" Alya was talking a mile a minute and barely paused for breath before continuing. All Marinette could do was nod along. "So I went to Juleka's quarters, you know she's room-mates with Rose? Well I went, and Rose hasn't seen her since that day when I saw her on CCTV."

With a manic gleam in her eye, Alya clutched Marinette's arm. Marinette bit her lip thoughtfully.

"I don't know, Alya. It's still not really proof, is it. It's definitely suspicious but it's not enough."

Alya nodded vigorously and pointed her finger in Marinette's face.

"I thought you'd say that so I did some more digging. Juleka doesn't like to socialise much. I can't find any photos of her on Elfbook and her family are travelling so she doesn't have anyone. There's nowhere for her to go, so where is she?"

Marinette tugged on the ends of her pigtails in agitation.

"Argh, I don't know. It does sound bad but what can we even do?" she wondered. "I'm going to see Maman later today so I'll talk to her about it and see if she has any ideas but I've got Adrien to deal with right now. If you find anything else, let me know but for now..." she shrugged then pulled Alya into a swift hug. "I'll speak to you later."

Ten minutes after leaving Marinette finally made it back to the wrapping room. On opening the door, she couldn't contain her gasp, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide as saucers and she took in the scene before her. A pile of haphazardly wrapped presents were stacked against one wall, the sight a garish patchwork of reds, greens, blues, purples and golds. Rolls of the paper were strewn across the floor and in the middle sat Adrien, tangles of ribbons tying his hands together and wrapped around his body. She turned her head to take in the rest of the room and noted with relief that everything else was as it should be. Most of the elves were minding their own business, too conscious of the counting down clock – quite literally, there was a large digital countdown as a constant reminder on the wall – that they hadn't even noticed the disaster taking place in front of them.

That was, except for one blonde elf who was flapping around Adrien, her perfectly manicured nails plucking uselessly at the strings binding him.

"Oh Adrinkins! What are we going to do? We don't want to get you in trouble. I'll untie you somehow."

Fists clenched by her sides, Marinette marched over to where the two were, her anger painted clearly on her face.

"Well if it isn't Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chloe drawled, her eyes flicking disdainfully over her.

"Chloe," she growled, her brow furrowing further. "What are you doing here? I thought you were assigned to painting?"

Chloe flipped her freshly highlighted and styled ponytail over her shoulder, giving Adrien a simpering smile as she did so.

"I'm just here helping out my darling Adrikins, since he'd been left all alone on his very first day. Me and Adrien go _way back_. We are absolute bff's."

Marinette stared in disbelief then shook her head.

"And you call _this_ helping?" she gestured lamely at Adrien's bound form. "What happened here?"

Deftly, she pulled a pair of tailors shears from a loop on her belt and make quick work of the bindings. He smiled sheepishly at her.

"I don't know how it happened. I did like you said and observed some of the other elves. Chloe helped me get started and I... wrapped..." he trailed off and cast a glance at the pile he had been working on. The smile dropped from his face. "Ah..." She sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Okay, we can fix this. Chloe," she snapped, her voice authoritative and Chloe flinched, her face betraying her annoyance. "Go back to the painting room. I dare say your... _expertise _is sorely missed right now. We haven't got long," she looked pointedly at the countdown clock. "So you need to get back to work."

Muttering under her breath, Chloe begrudgingly went on her way, smiling and waving flirtatiously at Adrien before she slipped out the door.

"Adrien," he flinched as well, his mouth already shaping an apology before a slice of her hand cut him off.

"This is my fault. I shouldn't have left you alone. You weren't ready for it. But we need to fix this and fast so do exactly as I say."

And with that, Adrien was a star pupil, following her instructions to the letter – handing Marinette tape and paper as requested, placing a finger where needed so she could tie the perfect bow. In shockingly short time, his haphazard heap became a perfect stack of beautifully wrapped gifts.

"Wow, Marinette. You're amazing!" Adrien exclaimed. Marinette went pink at the praise.

"Oh, no, I-I really don't... There are loads of elves better at this than me. I'm nothing special."

Adrien shook his head.

"I think you are."

She looked away before the blush could get much worse. She could feel the heat coming off her face.

"It's time to show you the next department anyway. Let's go."

"Okay!" Adrien followed cheerfully behind. The rest of the morning went much more smoothly. Marinette showed Adrien the ropes and by the time the lunch bell rang he had the basic skills of wrapping, painting, cogs and clockwork (something Adrien particularly enjoyed - "it's just physics!") and the assembly line.

"After lunch I'll take you to design, textiles and then to the armoury," she told him as she moved towards the mess hall.

"Armoury?" Adrien asked, his brow puckered. "Like weapons? At the north pole? Is that... necessary?"

Marinette grabbed a sandwich and a drink and headed to a table. Adrien picked up a salad and followed behind.

"You'd be surprised. The whole naughty/nice list doesn't sit well with some people."

"That's a real thing?"

Marinette chuckled and wiped some breadcrumbs off her face with a napkin.

"No, of course not. No kid is _just_ naughty. And no kid is completely nice. I think it's just one of those stories that keep kids in line before the big day. Like the Krampus."

Adrien swallowed.

Nobody wanted to get a visit from the Krampus.

Just as they were leaving the hall a booming voice called out.

"Marinette!"

It was her dad and he did not sound happy.


	4. Chapter 4

Falling behind a little, these night shifts are doing me in!

* * *

For the second time that day, Marinette found herself standing in her father's office. Even now, when he was clearly angry, he was working away, hammer and nails in hand as he built a wooden train.

When he called her out in front of the mess hall she had been completely embarrassed. Adrien stood watching from the sideline as Tom Dupain had strode across the room, his long legs eating up the space.

"My office. Now."

Luckily, Nathaniel had just been passing on his way to the design room. So now, Adrien was with him and here Marinette was, getting a thorough dressing down.

"That was extremely irresponsible!"

"Well, I-"

"Not to mention dangerous!"

"It's not-"

"And you're very lucky that the situation wasn't worse! What do you think would have happened if you'd left him alone in the assembly line? Or even worse, in clockwork?"

Marinette bowed her head.

"Papa, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have left him alone like that, especially on his first day but Alya-"

"No buts," Tom interrupted her, putting down the sandpaper block and turning his full attention onto his daughter. "You are next in line to be santa, Marinette. Do you know what that means? You can't be skipping out on your duties just because your friend shows up wanting a chat."

"It wasn't like that! She-"

"I don't want to hear it, Marinette. People look to you for guidance and if they see that you're slacking, what do you think they'll do? You can't just expect people to follow you and do as you ask if they have no respect for you. You must lead by example."

Marinette ducked her head again.

"You're right, Papa, and it won't happen again. Adrien and I rectified the problem this morning and production wasn't affected too badly. And he's doing well fitting in so far. I think... I think he'll do very well here, Papa."

Tom stood, his large frame a stark contrast to her own petite one. Marinette looked up at him uncertainly then squeaked when he scooped her up into a bear hug.

"There was a problem and you solved it. You made a mistake and you owned up to it. I am proud of you, Marinette. You will make a fine santa one day. Now go," he said, setting her back onto her feet. "You still have responsibilities and I have a lot of work to do."

* * *

She met up with Adrien and Nathaniel in the design room. A large portfolio lay open between them and Nate was gesturing animatedly, his excitement over whatever he was showing Adrien was palpable. As she approached she realised what it was.

"Are you looking at... _my_ designs?" she squealed, leaping forward and slapping a hand down on top of the sketches in an attempt to hide them. She dragged the portfolio away and slammed the cover closed. "Nate!"

The red-head blushed deeply, his eyes shifting guiltily.

"Well, I showed him what I was working on and he had a look around but he said he wanted to see what you had done and I didn't think there would a problem..."

Nathaniel trailed off, looking helplessly at Adrien who shrugged and mouthed the word 'sorry'.

Marinette glared at them. "I think we've seen enough here, don't you think? You get the idea. This is where all the toys are designed, I'm sure Nate did a great job showing you around so let's head on over to the armoury."

Carefully she placed her portfolio into a drawer and gently shut it, turning the key and pocketing it.

Nathaniel went back to his own work, his eyes flicking back to them. As they walked, Adrien tried to engage Marinette in conversation.

"You know, those designs of yours... they're pretty amazing."

Marinette picked up the pace although Adrien's longer legs managed the new speed easily.

She waved a hand dismissively. "It's just something I like to do in my spare time. A hobby, that's all. Design this close the the big day is really just skeleton staff since the big focus is on production so I don't get to do anything in there right now. Not that it matters, really..."

Adrien stayed silent as he walked beside her.

"As the future santa I have to put my focus on more important things like training and supervising, stepping in wherever help is needed and doing what I can to reinforce defences which is where we are headed now. We have a large store of defensive weapons and a state of the art security system designed by one of the youngest in the defence team, Max. You might get to meet him later. At this time of day they're all out for training so it should only be Maman in there. Here we are."

She pushed open a heavy, reinforced door.

Along one wall stood rows of Bo staffs. There were various fencing blades with protective clothing, what looked to be police batons, a locker full of tasers and all manner of defensive weaponry. Marinette barely glanced at them. Behind her, Adrien took careful stock of everything he saw. Her mother stood in the corner talking to an elderly man hunched over a walking cane. The pair looked over to where Marinette and Adrien were and stopped talking. Marinette dashed closer to them leaving Adrien behind her. The older man smiled.

"Hello, Marinette. It's been a while. You must come and have tea with me sometime soon."

Marinette bowed her head slightly and smiled back.

"As soon as Christmas is over I will. I've missed our chats."

"Indeed. Well," he clasped Sabine's hand warmly before turning towards the door, offering Adrien a friendly nod. "I must be going. You young people are so busy, I wouldn't want to get in the way. Not like in my day. If there is anything I can help with, you know where to find me."

And with that, he left.

"What was great-uncle doing here, Maman?" Marinette asked. It wasn't unheard of to see Master Fu wandering around the complex but he usually kept to his room, especially this close to Christmas.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. He just wanted a chat. Ah!" Sabine spotted Adrien and her face lit up. "You must be Adrien. I've been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Sabine. I'm Marinette's mother. I run the defence force for the compound. If you like you can come here to do some training. I saw on your record that you are quite the keen fencer."

He smiled brightly, the skin around his eyes crinkling.

"That's right, Mrs Cheng. But I haven't fenced in a while. Perhaps I could come again after Christmas is over and I have some more free time?" He asked, his manners impeccable.

"That would be wonderful," Sabine said, her own smile growing. "And please, Sabine."

"Sabine," he acknowledged.

"Ahem," Marinette coughed pointedly. "Well, you've seen the armoury and that concludes our tour. I'll take you back to your room and later on you'll take our aptitude test which will place you in the department most suited to you. If it isn't to your taste then in a few months you can transfer to another department."

"Marinette, darling, before you go. Please come to the training room tonight. Starting today I will need you here everyday from six o'clock."

Marinette scowled. "Alright, Maman. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

Grabbing Adrien by the arm she pulled him forcefully behind her out of the room.

"Uh, Marinette? You're hurting me."

Marinette gasped, immediately releasing his arm and he flexed his fingers.

"Thanks. Hey, umm... if you're going to be doing training tonight, do you think I could tag along? I'd love to see what you guys are doing and maybe start doing some training as well?"

"Ah, I'm sorry Adrien, I don't think that would be a good idea. It's just- oh, hey, Alya, Nino!" She waved at the approaching pair and once again pulled Adrien behind her.

"Guys, this is Adrien." The boy in question waved awkwardly then rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey..."

"So, do you think you could do me a favour? I've got to do some stuff with Maman this evening and I was hoping maybe you could look after Adrien-"

"Well, I don't need babysitting or anyth-"

"and show him what we do for fun around here?" she finished, completely ignoring his interruption.

Nino nodded enthusiastically and slung an arm around Adrien's shoulder.

"Adrien, my man, we are gonna show you how we do, Elf style!"


	5. Chapter 5

With Marinette in training, Adrien found himself with some new faces. It was to be expected really, when the only person he knew here was Chloe. Looking in the mirror one last time he tugged at a wayward lock of hair and smoothed down his shirt. He didn't know what Nino had in mind for the evening but he wanted to make a good impression. Taking a deep breath, he headed out of the door.

* * *

"Whoo!" he yelled, the sound of his voice swallowed by the electronic music pumping through the speakers and the pew pew of the laser guns. With a camo vest and helmet, he didn't really blend in to the surroundings but it sure helped him feel the part. The slightly blue tint to his goggles protected his eyes from the flashing lights and he crouched low, poking his head from behind a wall and quickly withdrawing it at the sight of a muzzle.

It didn't take very long before he had been shot, a red light on his chest indicating his demise.

Arms raised and a huge grin on his face he came out of his hiding place. After five rounds (of which Adrien almost won one) the pair called it quits and went in search of food.

"Alright man, the mess hall's okay and the food's pretty decent I'll admit, but if you want some proper, messy, can barely hold it together in two hands, out of this world burgers, it has to be Cesaire's. Alya's parents run it. It's amazing, like, you have no idea. You did alright at laser tag, I'll give you that but you definitely need more practice, and if you're gonna be an elf here, we gotta do this right. Burgers. Shakes. Let's get messy."

Adrien grinned thinking about all those calories and how just one month ago he might have cared. Now? "Bring on the burgers."

* * *

Marinette took a deep breath and tried to find her inner calm like her mother had just taught her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the imaginary ball of light in her centre. Breathe in. Breathe out. Don't think, just react.

A conk to the head – surely by tomorrow she'd be black and blue – brought her out of her meditative state, or what there was of it.

"Ow! Maman, I'm never going to get this," she said, rubbing the sore spot. "And I really don't understand why now all of a sudden? Between training with you and showing Adrien around and trying to deal with whatever issues Alya is bringing to me, I haven't been able to help the other elves with Christmas. We're running out of time. Shouldn't we just put this off 'till January?"

Sabine didn't reply but instead spun the Bo in her hands in an elaborate move that Marinette could barely follow before taking up an attacking stance. She sighed and tried to replicate the defensive position from before, adjusting her hands and feet at her mother's instruction.

"The attacks upon us have been gaining in frequency," Sabine finally said, swiping the staff at Marinette's feet, which she just barely managed to jump over. "And you are of an age where you must learn. Perhaps we should have started earlier but we though we were safe enough. That was my mistake. With threats upon the compound increasing, we are afraid that you might become a target for the more... dauntless among them." Marinette parried against a few of her mother's attacks before another sweep knocked her flat on her back and the breath out of her lungs. She lay gasping for air, unable to move, her brain going over Sabine's words. Was she really likely to be the target for an attack?

"Very good, Marinette," her mother's hand grasped her own and hauled her back to her feet with ease. "Let's go again."

It was several hours later that she finally made it back to her room. The majority of the compound was asleep already with a few night shift workers waving a hearty hello as she passed. Lying in her bed, the cat pillow curling around her head giving her much needed comfort, the events of the past couple of days fought for dominance in her brain. Her peaceful life as designer and eventual santa – something so far in the distant future that she barely gave it a thought – was turning rapidly on its head, not unlike herself earlier in the evening. It seemed as though there were pieces of a puzzle before her, and maybe it was more than one puzzle and she couldn't fit anything together because most of the pieces were still missing and until she found more, the picture wouldn't be...

Her train of thought became more muddled and less tangible as sleep took her. But that night she dreamed of faceless people coming to take her as one by one the people around her disappeared until finally it was just one green eyed boy stood by her side.

* * *

Sorry, just a short one today. Work really is handing my arse to me on a platter.


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay Adrien, you've got an hour for this test. There are no right or wrong answers, it's just a general aptitude test which will determine your best fit. You'll get your results as soon as you are done." Marinette clicked the mouse a few times and the screen changed to say 'begin'. "When you're ready, click here, okay?"

Adrien nodded then swivelled in his chair to look at her.

"What did you get in your test?"

She grimaced slightly.

"I didn't take one. It's not really important what I have an aptitude for. I have to be able to do everything so..." she shrugged and turned to leave. "Just have fun with it."

"Oh, right..." he agreed but she had already left.

The hour wait was pretty boring but she had been told point blank that she had to stay until he was done. After ten minutes of waiting she glanced up and down the empty hall - painted a sterile white just to ensure maximum boredom - and since no one was there, and it seemed unlikely anyone would be heading this way, Marinette pulled her bag out from under her chair. One last glance down the empty hall confirmed she was alone so she grabbed her sketchbook and a pencil. Page after page of the notebook was filled with designs, but these weren't for toys. No games or trains or dolls filled the blank paper, no. It seemed pointless really. There was no way any of the designs would be made into anything. What would be the point? They all wore the same clothes everyday anyway. Still, she sketched and she imagined and she dreamed of a day she might get the chance to bring them to life.

So lost was she in her designs, she didn't even notice that the hour was up until a shadow fell across the shading of a particularly sleek, feathered bowler hat.

"Wow, that looks really cool, Marinette. Except for the feathers," he chuckled. "I'm allergic to feathers."

She screamed, her eyes wide then clamped a hand across her mouth and quickly closed the book. Tidying her things away, she avoided looking Adrien in the eyes.

"How long have you been stood there?"

"Not long!" he was quick to reassure her. "I just got here and noticed you were drawing and I was curious so I had a look. I didn't mean to-"

"Well you shouldn't have!" she snapped. "This is my personal sketchbook, it's not for other people to look at and I didn't give you permission to."

"I... uh I didn't mean to-"

"Why are you here, Adrien? I've been thinking about it since you got here but it's _weird_. People don't just show up this close to Christmas to start training as an elf. I've _never _ heard it being done before, so why?"

She hadn't really meant to snap at him. It wasn't his fault really, everything that was going on. Her parents were the ones who had just up and decided to make all these changes in her life with no warning, Adrien just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had always been secretive about her clothes designs. And now he looked like a kicked puppy.

"Adrien, I-"

"I ran away," he said, his voice so small she almost didn't catch it.

"You-"

"Ran away. From home," he confirmed and he gingerly took the seat beside her. Tipping his head back against the wall he looked at the ceiling, his hands clasped tightly in his lap. "Last year, I lost my mother. Well, we both lost her, I guess. And my father hasn't been the same since. I haven't really been out much in the past year at all and if I do it's always with a babysitter. I even started getting home schooled and wouldn't see anyone my own age. Even Chloe I haven't seen in a long while. So... I wrote a letter to santa..."

Marinette turned wide eyes on him. "You... really? Wow."

He nodded. "It's stupid, I guess. Kids my age don't write letters to him but... I was feeling pretty desperate. So I asked him if I could come and be an elf. I never really thought he would agree but..." Adrien shrugged then turned his head to smile at Marinette. It looked a little sad.

The two of them sat in silence, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable and Adrien seemed more relaxed than he had since he'd arrived. After a couple of minutes Marinette reached out a hand then pulled it back.

"So, umm... the test. How did it go?"

Adrien sat up straighter in his chair, the peace of the moment slipping away. "Oh, right. It was fine. I actually got a 50/50 aptitude for mechanics and for defence. So... where do I go from there? Am I supposed to split my time or do I take another test or what?"

She looked at him confused. "What do you mean 50/50?"

"Like, equally suited for both, I don't know. Doesn't this happen a lot?"

Marinette shook her head and got abruptly to her feet. "No, Adrien. This doesn't happen a lot. We need to go and speak to someone. I don't think this has ever happened before."

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down the corridor.

"Where are we going?" he asked, as he ran to keep up.

"I don't know. My dad, maybe? Or, actually, maybe we should go and see-"

"There you are!"

Marinette stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face but Adrien managed to snag her wrist, keeping her on her feet. Spinning around, she saw Alya racing towards her, Nino following in her wake.

"Hey, listen, we've got a big problem."

Marinette glanced over her shoulder at Adrien and then back at Alya.

"We've kinda got a problem ourselves that we need to deal with right now."

Alya grabbed Marinette by the shoulders, drawing her full attention. She looked scared, and Alya was never scared.

"What is it?"

Alya took a steadying breath and it was like the whole building stilled and time slowed.

"Mylene is gone."


End file.
